Amistad Has To Change Its Course

Amistad

Voytec Wacowski

The schooner Amistad is seen in full sail in May 2009.

The schooner Amistad is seen in full sail in May 2009. (Voytec Wacowski)

EDITORIALThe Hartford Courant

It's been a bad week for a good ship. The head of the nonprofit that operates the Amistad, Connecticut's official flagship and Tall Ship ambassador, notified New London officials that the schooner would not be visiting Sailfest in the Whaling City this weekend, as it had been scheduled to do, blaming negative coverage by the local newspaper, in part, for the cancellation.

Late Thursday, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy intervened and "strongly urged" the group to send the ship to New London, saying it is "wholly unacceptable" that the Amistad break a commitment to a festival attended by hundreds of thousands of people. He said that not going would "force me to reconsider" future state funding. It was not clear Thursday evening if Amistad would change course and visit New London; let's hope it does.

These difficulties reflect a consistent problem with this wonderful asset: It is not regularly doing what it is supposed to be doing — educating and enlightening children and adults about a unique event in Connecticut history.

Now that he has intervened in the Sailfest issue, Mr. Malloy should follow up and find a way to sustain the Amistad. One way to do that would be to create a partnership of some kind with the Mystic Seaport, where the Amistad was built and launched in 2000.

As many residents know, the ship is a replica of the Spanish ship La Amistad that was transporting slaves in Cuba in 1839 — 175 years ago — when the 53 captives revolted and took charge of the ship. They ended up in Connecticut and won their freedom after a celebrated trial in 1841 — one of the state's finest hours.

The replica Amistad was to be a floating classroom, a place to teach the story and lessons of the Amistad. But in recent years, the ship's nonprofit owner, Amistad America Inc., has struggled to pay its bills. State Rep. Diana Urban of North Stonington and some other lawmakers have demanded more fiscal transparency. There is a state audit underway looking at the organization's records over the past six years.

Problems

The nonprofit clearly has had some difficult years. It lost its tax-exempt status for failing to file federal tax returns, because it didn't have the money to audit its operations, said Hanifa Washington, who became executive director and chief executive officer of Amistad America last year. The first four years of the audit are expected to be released shortly, and Ms. Washington said they will show no mismanagement of money.

Ms. Washington said she wants to get through the audit and then re-establish the group's tax-free status.

Wooden ships are expensive to maintain. It costs about $1.1 million a year to keep the Amistad afloat, said Ms. Washington. The state gives the nonprofit a grant of $359,000 a year. That means the rest has to be raised, and so the ship often is out trying to make money — as a prop in a movie in the Caribbean or used in a sailing school in Maine — rather than doing what it was built to do. The fiscal difficulties have led, among other things, to strained relations between the nonprofit and The Day of New London, which has chronicled unpaid bills and other difficulties.

Strain

The strain showed this week when Ms. Washington notified Sailfest leaders that the Amistad wasn't coming. She said the main reason was crew shortages and an upcoming annual Coast Guard inspection, but added that the "one-sided and negative" coverage by The Day was also a factor. Please. The Day has reported these stories accurately, and blaming the messenger is not helpful.

The way to eliminate the negative stories is to solve the problems. How? Having Mystic Seaport involved, with its shipwrights, marketing staff and other assets, seems like an avenue to explore.

Those who've walked the deck of the Amistad know its magic. Those who've studied its story have learned something of the human spirit. Let's find a way to keep the ship afloat.